


Back to Square 1

by Potterables



Category: Superstore (TV)
Genre: AU: Amy is 20 and goes back to work at Cloud 9 after having Emma, Comedy, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Romantic Comedy, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, amy and jonah being idiots around each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-20 17:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14265954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potterables/pseuds/Potterables
Summary: AUAmy is going back to Cloud 9 after having Emma. She didn't expect to be back, much less to be juggling motherhood and a strained relationship with her Fiancee Adam. On her first day she also meets fellow newbie Jonah who throws everything off balance when she realises he might not be as annoying and incompetent as he first seemed.This will be a multi-chapter, long fic with each chapter almost acting like an episode of the show. This fic acts as a re-telling of the show but with Amy and Jonah in their early 20's, struggling to figure out what to do with their life.





	1. Good to see nothing has changed

Chapter One:

Amy was running late, out of breath, probably with sick in her hair and stuck behind this loser in a fancy car. This guy was making a meal out of this parking manoeuvre and she was just about ready to ram him. As he pulled out and twisted a millimetre to the right for the hundredth time, Amy was just about ready to give up. She didn’t ever think she’d be back here again and now she was even screwing up her first day back.

            The brick front of Cloud 9 loomed over her steering wheel and she had the crushing sense of being 16 again. The nerves were different this time. Now she wasn’t concerned with what was going to happen-she knew the ins and outs of this place-but rather, how they were going to react. The people she’d waved goodbye to over a year ago. They couldn’t judge her. That she was sure of. If you were working at Cloud 9 past the age of 17 something had gone really wrong for you, but still it was hard. She had been the bright eyed, bright brained girl who was going off to find better things. And now… she was back.

            Finally the jackass was done and Amy took the opportunity to squeeze past him and park quickly before sprinting into the store, hoping that she still held enough good grace that her tardiness would be forgiven. She stepped through the automatic doors and the familiar tinned music filled her ears. She really was back. “Amy!” Glenn, the store manager greeted her as soon as she was through the threshold. “Oh I am so excited to have you back!” He looked just how she remembered him. Same blue shiny tie, same ill-fitting shirt, same weirdly floppy haircut. “How’re you feeling?”

            “I’m feeling great!” She said, lying through her teeth which were bared in a strained grin. “Happy to be here!”

            He beamed at her, a hand on his hip. “Well you are just in time. The other newbies are here and about to be welcomed to the team! You can join them, although I think you’ll see some familiar faces. Not much has changed since you left!”

            “I can see that.” Amy said as she walked past the fancy deck chairs that she put together two years ago.

            The break room was filled with Cloud 9 employees, all waiting around for the day to begin. Usually Glenn would be starting the morning chant but that time was taken up by the introductions. Amy walked into the room, the same false smile pinned to her face as she waved at those who greeted her, and tried not to show that she was dying inside.

            “Good morning gang!” Glenn said, walking up to the front. Amy got her first glimpse of the newbies. Two guys, one Filipino guy with a fancy haircut and a cheek splitting grin plastered across his wide face. The other a tall white guy, dark hair and dark eyes. She supposed someone might think him attractive. Not her though, obviously. “Well don’t we have an exciting morning?” The workers all looked bored. All except Garrett, sat at the front, looking strangely at Amy. She tried to ignore him. “First up can we all give a warm welcome back to Amy? Now, I know most of us are used to seeing her around store but since she’s been gone for over a year I want you to treat her as if she’s new. Don’t expect her to know everything just because she used to be an old hand at this.” A few people smiled at her. Glenn had clearly been hoping for a bigger reaction but simply cleared his throat and moved on. “Next we have Mateo,” The Filipino guy waved. “And Jonah!” The other guy quickly interrupted Glenn.

            “I would like to say that I am incredibly excited about working here with all of you.” Amy rolled her eyes. Clearly this dude had never worked in retail before. No one is excited to work here.

            “Indeed, it is truly an honour to join this team of incredibly devoted staff. Let’s go out there and change lives!” A fist pump ended Mateo’s speech and a wave of silence echoed through the room. Amy sighed and walked with the rest of the staff out into the shop floor. There was no need for a procession, Amy just wanted to get this over with.

            “Hey,” A voice called from behind her. Garrett rolled into view. “I didn’t know you were back.” Amy nodded. “What happened?”

            “Things just… didn’t work out.” Amy said vaguely, praying that this would be sufficient.

            “M’okay.” Garret said, his eyebrows raised. If Amy knew Garrett then this wouldn’t be the end of it, but at least it bought her until his morning break.

            “Hey!” Another voice called out. Amy felting like screaming into the pillow she was plumping. That Jonah guy came up to her. “I’m Jonah.” He said, holding out a hand. Amy just looked at it.

            “Yeah I know.” She reminded him.

Jonah ran a hand through his hair and tried again. “So you used to work here?”

            “Yup.” Amy said, moving down the shelf and straightening the bedsheets.

            “Any advice for a newcomer?”

            “Show up on time, do whatever Dina tells you to do and… clock out as soon as you can.”

            “Cool.” He said looking awkwardly at the floor. “Good advice.”

            “Where are you supposed to be?” Amy asked suddenly, rounding on him. She had no time for this guy and his stupid face. “Because I’m pretty sure following-along-behind-Amy isn’t a station.”

            Jonah looked a little taken aback but seemed to get the hint. She watched as he backed away, arms slightly raised. Good. She didn’t need any kind of distraction today. If possible, she wanted this day to go as smoothly and quickly as possible.

\-------

“Ma’am?” An old lady appeared just as Amy was passing the changing rooms. “Could you help me? I’m… a little stuck.” The woman pointed down. Amy followed her glance and then quickly averted her eyes. The old woman, possibly in her mid-70s, was wearing an intricate lingerie set that involved many straps crossing over the other. Amy breathed, trying to remember why she was doing this. I have a baby at home to feed, I have a baby at home to feed…

            “Of course!” She said keeping her tone bright and breezy. “Let’s go find a spare changing room.”

\-------

“So why’d you come back?” Amy knew it had been risky. Trying to sneak past Garrett’s desk to the breakroom had been a rookie error. He had her in his line of sight and now she was done for.

            “Would you drop it if I told you I didn’t want to tell anyone?”

Garrett just smiled cheerily and shook his head. Amy crumpled a little. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if one person knew. And she and Garrett had always got on. He made her laugh and she helped him out of tight spots with customers. There were worse people she could trust. “Okay fine.” She said and walked over to his desk. “But this stays between us okay?” She said, looking over her shoulder. Garret did the same and nodded, drawing a line over his heart. Amy smiled and reached into her pocket for her phone. Then, she lit up the screen and handed it to him.

            “And this is yours?” He said, pointing to the beautiful baby girl in the picture. Amy couldn’t help the proud smile that crossed her face. “That makes sense.” He handed the phone back to her.

            “So college didn’t really work out what with a baby and all.” Amy explained. “So I’m back. But only until she goes to school. Then I’m going back to college to become nurse, just like I planned.”

            “I believe you.” Garret said. She smiled at him. She really shouldn’t have been so anxious about telling anyone. People weren’t as judgemental as she thought, especially not here. “And I think you’re doing a good thing. Supporting your child.” But then his eyebrow quirked. “Who the baby daddy though?”

            Amy rolled her eyes. “You know Adam, the guy that I was dating when I worked here?” Garrett nodded. “Well it’s him. And actually he’s been really great. He even proposed a few months into my pregnancy.”

            “Ohh.” Garrett said although Amy didn’t know if it was meant in a good way. “That’s real nice. Good for you.” It definitely wasn’t meant in a good way.

            “I think it’s better for the baby if we’re together. And, I mean we had been dating for over a year when I got pregnant so maybe we were always meant to get married this just… created urgency.”

            “Right, sure… look, I am happy for you. And I’m glad to have you back. Maybe things will actually start getting done around here again.” Amy chuckled.

            “If I have to be back I’m glad you’re here too.” Amy told him. Garrett smiled and then clapped his hands together.

            “Right, I need some food!”

The break room was empty except for Dina and Jonah, the latter of who was looking understandably uncomfortable as Dina was sat straddling the seat, shuffling closer to him as the talked. “So that’s a no on the girlfriend front then?” She was saying as Amy and Garrett entered.

            “Yeah, fine… Hey guys!” Jonah said, waving them over. Amy thought the poor guy looked desperate so she sat down next to Dina.

            “How’s your first morning going?” She asked politely, trying not to notice how nice his smile was.

            “Great, I have helped an old guy buy some condoms, unblocked the toilets about five times and tried to find a type of dog food that turns out doesn’t exist. Yup, the woman had dreamt it but insisted we look in every aisle in the shop.” Amy and Garrett laughed knowingly.

            “Welcome to Cloud 9.” Amy said.

            “Yeah that sums up pretty much every day here.”

Jonah scrunched his eyes together a little. “Great.” He nodded at Amy. “So what do you guys do to alleviate the boredom?”

            Garret snorted. “Don’t look at Amy for entertainment. She’s always just been about clocking in, doing the work, and clocking out again.”

            “That makes me sound so dull.” Amy commented.

            “Well I didn’t say it.” Garret replied. Amy smacked his shoulder.

            “So what do _you_ do to alleviate the boredom?” Jonah redirected his question to Garrett who leaned back and began to stroke his chin.

            “Well I have the advantage of controlling the intercom. So I can have a lot of fun with that. Making people run from aisle to aisle. Announcing a made up sale that lasts 30 seconds. But other than that… there’s always the cars.”

            “Oh no.” Amy warned. “No way. I will not stand for it.”

            “What cars?” Jonah said, clearly curious. Amy rolled her eyes at this guy. He’d barely been working at the store for three hours and already he was sick of it? She didn’t give him three weeks working here.

            “Oh… you’ll see.” Garret said ominously, chuckling as gestured for Jonah to follow him. Dina’s eyes followed the two out of the door and then she quickly turned to Amy.

            “That Jonah is built like a bamboo,” She had an intensity in her eyes that made Amy feel uncomfortable. “And this panda wants to lick him all over.”

            Amy backed away quickly after that. Good to know that nothing has changed.

\-------

Smack.

Amy closed her eyes and tried to remember that she was an adult now. And adults did not beat up their co-workers in public.

Smack.

Smack. Smack.

“Hey Amy…” Garrett’s voice called.

Smack.

“Come play with us.”

Smack.

She let out a muffled scream. It was taking all of her willpower not to stamp on that stupid little car.

Smack. It hit the back of her ankles again and she was sure that she was going to go ape at them. The whirring noise of its little engine taunted her as she heard it reversing and driving. Forward and back and forward and back. Always into her ankles.

            It seemed Jonah and Garrett had gotten bored of driving those little idiot toys around the aisles, slaloming in between customers and equipment and staff. Now they wanted to annoy her. Under the guise of getting her to join in. But really they wanted her to snap. And she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

Smack.

            She tried to walk away but the stupid little thing wouldn’t stop following her. The giggles of the grown ass men controlling the car echoed behind her and she imagined herself on a deserted island. Away from Cloud 9, away from annoying co-workers and away from any kind of…

Smack.

            “Okay!” She suddenly yelled, turning around. “You got me. You wore me down. This is the reaction you are getting. I am giving you what you want. I am acknowledging that you have annoyed me. Can you please stop now? Some people have work that they are trying to do.” The boys peeked out at her from behind the display sofa.

            “You know you could join us?” Jonah offered, driving his car around her in little loops. “Have some fun?”

            “No, thank you.” She said, keeping her voice even as the anger inside her flared. Who was this guy? And why did he think he could tell her what she should be doing? He didn’t know her! She gave them a half-hearted smile and turned to walk away.

Smack.

            That did it.

Amy whirled around and in one motion had picked up the car and in the other threw it full pelt at Jonah’s head. He ducked but just a second too late and the car struck the top of his head with a satisfying smack. Amy watched as he was knocked back, falling onto his side as the force of the car sent him off balance. “Who do you think you are?” She shouted at him. “I’m trying to do my job, a concept that you seem incapable of understanding. I don’t have time for fun. Some of us would actually like to keep our jobs, some of us need them for more than paying for fancy hair products!” Jonah looked terrified. Good.

            “You had to take it that one step too far didn’t you?” She snapped at him. “Well I hope your head hurts and I’m not sorry for throwing it at you.” The last part sounded lame, even as she was saying it, but it’s what it was. She wasn’t going to lose sleep about it. Instead, she walked away leaving Jonah rubbing his head and staring after this intriguing girl.

\-------

“Sir?” A man walked up to Mateo and patted him on the back. With a grin, Mateo turned to greet the customer.

            “Yes? Can I help you?” He asked happily. Mateo was sure he was having the most successful first day in the history of Cloud 9 employees. He had already sold 2 microwaves and had taken it upon himself to re-order the clothes section in a more fashion forward way.

            “I need to find the socks.”

            “Great, they are just down by the clothes; if you take a right on aisle 23 and then it’ll be halfway down.”

            “I don’t want clothes, I want socks.” The man says, an irked look growing on his face.

            “Of course, but the socks are with the clothes on aisle 23.”

            “I know where the clothes are, I want the socks!”

            “Sir.” Mateo said, trying to keep his voice light and fluffy. “If you’ll just hear me out.” The man shifted on his feet and moved closer. Mateo fought the urge to step back. “The socks are in the same section as the clothes.”

            “I want socks!” The man pushed Mateo’s right shoulder.

            “Of course, if you would just follow me, I’ll take you to the socks.”

            “I better not see no clothes aisle…” The man muttered behind Mateo who let out a small whimper.

\-------

It didn’t take long for her to feel guilty. She had really lost it on the poor guy. To be honest, there was still a part of her that thought he deserved it. And a part that thought the image of that car bashing him in the car was kinda hilarious. But, no, that was mean. And she was a mother now. Could she imagine if her mother had lost her temper and thrown something at somebody? No, she couldn’t, because Mothers were supposed to be sensible. They were supposed to have everything sorted and figured out. What would she do if her daughter annoyed her like that? She couldn’t exactly keep a car handy to throw at her.

            Amy worked silently, keeping an eye out for Jonah and ducking behind an aisle whenever he walked past.  She didn’t know how to face him. How to own up to something so childish and absurd. God, this was such a weird day. At home with the baby and with Adam everything had felt… secure. Being a mother was something she enjoyed and looking after Emma was so wonderful and fulfilling and… in a weird way simple. But coming back here, working here again… it all felt very unstable. To be honest she’d felt majorly depressed all day. It brought the reality of the situation to the forefront. Before, when she was at home, she could pretend that this was what she had wanted. What she had planned. But having to come back and face what had actually happened, it felt really shitty.

            Not that she regretted Emma for a second. That was the light of her world and she loved that little baby more than anything. But it wasn’t what she had planned. When she left Cloud 9 before she had been going to College, becoming a nurse, experiencing life and meeting new people. Then eventually settling down and having a baby. But now everything was twisted and it felt like she was going backwards.

            “Hey.” She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. And now Jonah was standing in front of her holding a jar of olives and there was nowhere for her to hide.

            “Why do you have olives?” She asked.

            Jonah shrugged. “It was the closest thing to an olive branch I could find.” He admitted, holding out the jar for her to take. It was a weird move but she admired the sweetness of the gesture. “I’m sorry.” He said.

            Amy cringed. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper… how’s your head?” She asked noticing the slight red blotch on the top of his forehead. Jonah’s hand quickly touched the spot.

            “It’s fine, really it wasn’t even that hard of a bump.” Amy raised an eyebrow. “Okay, yeah it did hurt quite a bit but,” He paused flashing her a wry smile. “I am impressed by your throw. Have you ever considered Baseball?”

            Amy couldn’t help but chuckle at his joke. “Again, very sorry.”

            “Nah, I shouldn’t have pushed it.” He admitted.

            “Well…”

            “I just, wanted to see you have some fun.” Jonah told her.

            “Well I’d appreciate it if you just let me do my job. It’s much easier to work here if you just lean in with the boredom. Eventually time slips through your fingers and shifts over.”

            “That sounds terrible.” Jonah told her. Amy just shrugged.

            “Maybe it is.”

They stood awkwardly in silence for a moment. Then Jonah sighed and said, “Nope, no I don’t think that’s true. You can find fun and joy in anything.” She suddenly felt like an old woman talking to a bright eyed boy filled to the brim with optimism. She’d hate to infect him with cynicism and reality just yet. Not when he was so confident in his stance.

            “Well I wish you all the best. But I’m going to wade through the boringness.” Jonah nodded and they reached a peaceful checkmate.

            Soon after Amy made some kind of excuse and walked away. She was pretty sure Jonah was a decent guy even if he was slightly annoying and conceited and arrogant and grating and egotistical. So she would try and be civil and let him and Garrett muck around if they wanted to. After all, they were just doing what they needed to do to get by. She snuck a look at her phone and smiled. This was what she needed, small reminders of what was waiting for her at home.

\-------

It was just getting dark as Amy’s car pulled into her driveway. She and Adam were living in the basement of her parents’ house and, while it wasn’t ideal, it was cheap and convenient. So she opened the white door and smelt the familiar scents of her Mom’s cooking, smiling as she also heard the sounds of her little girl laughing. Amy walked into the living room and saw Emma lying on the floor under her mobile. With a happy sigh she lay down next to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead and patting her stomach. Emma gurgled and kicked her legs in recognition and Amy felt her heart flip. God, she loved this little girl. “Mommy is so happy to see you!” She said, giving in and scooping her baby up into her arms. She saw on the fluffy carpet of her living room and rocked her baby gently in her arms. “Oh she’s missed you so much.”

            A small tear formed in the corner of her eye. She hadn’t realised how true that sentence was until this minute. Being away from Emma for so long had been horrible. Not being there to give her breakfast, not being able to take her to the park. Spending her day helping strangers buy useless junk instead of caring for her child. Amy clutched Emma to her chest and pressed another kiss to her head. The thought of leaving her again tomorrow made her heart ache.


	2. I Believe in Jesus Too!

Chapter Two:

Jonah still couldn’t get the hang of these ridiculously small parking spaces. It was this stupid car. How could anyone park without sensors? His old car, his old gorgeous car had even had the little camera and screen that showed you what you were driving in. Now it took at least ten manoeuvres just to get the angle right and then seven more to actually reverse into it! Halfway through he was ready to give up and the pressure of the other waiting cars didn’t help. Finally he managed it but swore that tomorrow he would cycle in. Then he changed his mind. That was just unrealistic.

            This morning was a little easier. No standing up in front of a crowd and no unnecessary attention. Not that he was particularly averse to being the centre of attention, but only when he could control it. Yesterday’s intro hadn’t gone down well and he wasn’t feeling like part of the gang yet. He liked Garrett, Garrett was cool and that scary Amy girl, but he hadn’t really gelled with anyone else. That wouldn’t do. If he was going to move up in this place, he had to have the underlings onside. As he walked into the breakroom however, he came across a visual he didn’t like. Glenn was standing, or rather creasing with laugher, a boastful smile on his face. Jonah frowned. That wasn’t good. The other new guy was getting real friendly with the manager. Not good at all. Jonah scrapped all thoughts of making friends with his co-workers. He had a new target in mind.

            “Okay everyone a few reminders of company policy…” Dina called everyone to attention. Jonah noticed Amy was sat to the side of the group, her expression definitely not chirpy. “Under no circumstances are the display toilets to be used as real toilets.” Dina shot a look at a man sat in the centre of the group. Jonah grimaced as the man looked down at his shoes. “Kevin, I didn’t think I’d have to tell you twice.” Everyone shot Kevin worried looks. “Second, our company does have rules on supervisors dating floor assistants. It is against the rules,” This time her intense gaze was directed his way and Jonah felt a chill creep up his spine. “So no matter how…” She paused closing her eyes and breathing slowly. “Intense an attraction may be. We all must make sacrifices for the good of Cloud 9.” Garrett snorted, tried to turn it into a cough, then realised he didn’t care and laughed outright. Jonah just averted his gaze and wrote a mental reminder to avoid Dina wherever possible.

            Glenn led a shortened version of the morning chant, and after fifteen minutes the doors were opened. Jonah quickly sidled up to Glenn who stood at the front, greeting customers as they slouched in. “Hey Glenn.” Jonah said, putting on his most charming grin. “I was just thinking about how we should get to know each other a little better.”

            Glenn, as always, responded like this was the greatest idea he had ever heard. “You know I think you’re right! I know all of my staff like the back of my hand so I should delve a little deeper into the pool that is Jonah.” Jonah’s smile faltered a little at the weird metaphor.

            “Right,” He agreed. “And I want to dip my toe into you….” He cringed. “So what kind of trouble do you get into when you’re not in the store?”

            Glenn chuckled. “Oh no kind of trouble. No, my weekends are mostly spent with my lovely wife and are two foster kids.”

            “Oh that is so great. You know, I think there’s not enough good homes for Foster kids.” Jonah said smarmily.

            “You sound just like my priest. He was preaching a few Sundays ago about the importance of opening your homes to the needy.” Glenn said happily. A man walked past and threw some trash on the ground in front of them. Glenn, the smile not faltering, leant over and picked it up.

            “That is so true. You know, I always try and follow the advice of Priests.”

            “You go to church?” Glenn said excitedly.

Jonah paused. “Uh… sure.” He said. He supposed it wasn’t exactly a lie, he did go to church just… only for funerals or at Christmas. “Yeah I think it’s such a shame more young people don’t worship.”

            Glenn looked like he might explode. “We don’t have many kids your age at all. How many people are in your parish? Which church do you go to? Are you Catholic? Not that it matters of course, we accept all forms of Christ’s followers.”

            Jonah blinked. That was a lot of questions all at once. “You know, I’ve just remembered that I told Amy I’d help her restock, but we should definitely keep this going later.” Jonah gestured between the two of them and Glenn nodded enthusiastically. Keeping his face fixed in a smile, Jonah backed away and quickly ran off to the nearest computer. He needed to find a local church that had a young following and figure out what denomination he would belong to.

\-------

Amy scuffed her feet down the toaster aisle and tried to avoid the gaze of the woman clearly stuck between buying a see-through toaster and a regular one. Instead she tried to look busy switching some price tags around and then changing them back again. Anything to occupy herself. She was in one of those weird moods where she didn’t actually want to work or help anyone but she needed to keep her brain occupied or it was going to melt. Heading off to work this morning was hard. Neither Emma nor Amy had expected to have to do this two days in a row. Well, of course Amy had known it in the back of her mind, but had conveniently forgotten that fact about working. That you actually had to go into work quite a lot. So the two of them had cried, screamed and kicked their legs in annoyance. But eventually reality won out and here she was. But she wasn’t happy about it.

            Suddenly she heard a strange noise coming from inside a store cupboard to her right. She frowned, leant her head against the door to make sure she wasn’t about to interrupt a couple in the heights of passion, and then gently knocked. “Is anyone in here?” She heard a whine in reply that sounded very human-like so pushed opened the door. Cheyenne was lying on the floor, her head in a bucket, being violently sick. “Oh god, Cheyenne what happened?”

            When the vomiting stopped, Cheyenne replied. “I don’t know! I was feelin’ a little sick this morning but not too bad or nothing. And then suddenly…” She gestured to the bucket which Amy was trying very hard not to look into.

            “Well what have you eaten today? Were you drinking last night?”

Cheyenne shook her head. “Nope, and I just had some pizza my Mom made.” Amy nodded, sometimes she forgot that Cheyenne was only 16, she was tall and pretty so Amy sometimes assumed she was older.

            “Huh.” Amy said. A thought had popped into her head, a reason Cheyenne might be being sick with seemingly no reason.

            “It’s funny, this happened to me a couple days ago too…” Amy inwardly battled with herself. Really, she should stay out of it. Even if what Amy was thinking as right, it wasn’t exactly her place to suggest it. But then again, if she wasn’t right, Amy suggesting it wouldn’t do any harm. And Cheyenne wasn’t exactly the brightest girl, so what if the thing Amy was thinking never crossed Cheyenne’s mind. And then it might be too late.

            “Cheyenne, when was your last period?” Amy asked tentatively. Cheyenne looked confused at first, but then her eyes got wide.

            “You don’t think?” Cheyenne asked, looking down at her stomach and gently prodding it.

            “I don’t know. But… maybe you should check?” Amy felt a weird feeling pit in her stomach. It was as if she already knew the answer to the big question they were throwing around. “You do have a boyfriend don’t you?” Cheyenne nodded. “So is it possible?”

            “Oh it’s very possible.” Cheyenne said seriously. “Do they sell tests in the store?”

            Amy quickly tried to back-track. “I’m not sure if you should do it here, maybe wait till your Mom comes home and…” Cheyenne interrupted her quickly shaking her head.

            “No! No way! I’m not gonna tell my Mom any of this until it’s absolutely necessary!” Amy nodded, running her hands over Cheyenne’s arms in an effort to calm her down.

            “Okay, okay. No telling Mom. I get it.” Amy thought back to her pregnancy test. She’d done it in a random bathroom somewhere in town. Not wanting to have any evidence traced back to her she’d brought it with cash, done it in a random street toilet, and stashed the evidence in a random bin. She hadn’t told her Mom until a week later, when she’d got everything sorted and decided. “Let’s get you a test then.”

\-------

“And that’ll be $65.70.”

“I’d like to use this coupon.”

“Of course… Uh Ma’am… this isn’t a coupon. This is just a piece of paper that you’ve written 50% off on.”

“No, it’s a coupon for your store.”

“Ma’am I can assure you, it is not.”

“This is ridiculous! Just scan through the coupon and give me my 50% off!”

“I can try to scan this but seeing as, again, it is just a handwritten note; I don’t think the computer will recognise it.”

“Is there some kind of manager I can speak to instead of a clearly incompetent jackass?!”  
“Of course, let me just get him for you… crazy old crone.”

\-------

Jonah strolled confidently into the breakroom, his hour spent researching all things Jesus and Christian had gone swimmingly and he was ready to talk the balls off of Glenn. The man in question was sat with Mateo and another worker Jonah hadn’t got the name of. “Hey there!” he said jovially, sitting down next to Glenn and patting him on the shoulder. Mateo cast him a suspicious glance.

            “Jonah!” Glenn said happily. “So, how’s it going today?”

            “Oh,” Jonah said clutching a hand to his chest. “I just feel blessed. You know helping people, passing on knowledge, giving gifts…” He let his words drift off and saw that Glenn was completely eating it up.

            “You know, I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I love working here, we really are improving people’s lives.”

            “And isn’t that what our mission should be in life?”

            Glenn shifted on his seat a little and Jonah smiled when he realised Glenn had turned away from Mateo. “So what kind are you?”

            “Pescatarian.” Jonah said confidently. Then realised something was wrong with the look on Glenn’s face.

            “You don’t… east fish?”

            “Ha ha!” Jonah said, slapping his knees and forcing out a fake laugh. “Sorry, that was just a little joke no I’m pisc… a pisc…” He was really struggling. Damn! Why had he not looked more closely at the name?

            “Episcopalian?” Glenn finished for him.

            “Yes! Yes exactly!” Jonah said, laughing again. Glenn started to chuckle and Jonah felt that he’d gotten away with it. “Definitely Episcopalian. Like I’m protestant but in a catholic kind of way…”

            “Well I am Catholic but I like to think of myself as a liberal breed. You know I’m fine with lots of things and I like to see Jesus’ love in everything.”

            Jonah nodded, unsure of how to continue. “You know, that’s what my parish is all about. Just spreading the word of Jesus and emulating his capabilities of love.” Jesus that sounded good! And Glenn was eating it up. Mateo on the other hand was silently stewing, watching Jonah very closely. The way he was staring made the hairs on Jonah’s neck stand up. That dude was straight up weird.

            “You know what Jonah? I wasn’t sure about you when we first met…”

            “You weren’t?”

            “But now that we’ve had a chance to talk this way I am so glad to have you on the team.”

            “Ah Glenn that means so much…”

            “I believe in Jesus too!” Mateo suddenly blurted over the top of them. “And I’m Catholic, devoutly so my Mother raised me that way and I also believe in love and things and Jesus.” Jonah just shook his head. Such a desperate grab for attention. It was sad really.

            “Well I didn’t know we had such a religious bunch!” Glenn said, of course eating up every word. “And Dina always tells me that I mustn’t preach too much! She says it will cause divisions but now I know what kind of gents we have in the same camp as me…” He sighed happily. “Maybe I’ll suggest a little Cloud 9 church group! We could gather for morning prayers and maybe on Sunday we can all meet after our Mass?”

            Jonah and Mateo both shared the same expression of forced interested. “That sounds great!”

            “Completely genius idea.”

            “Well I’ll go speak to Dina, make sure it’s not going against any corporate stooge’s rules!” And with that he strolled out of the room. Immediately the two men crumpled a little.

            “You’re not really religious.” Mateo muttered to Jonah.         

            “Well neither are you.” Jonah replied.

            “Of course I’m not! I’m a gay, Filipino liberal. I grew up Roman Catholic and hated every second of it!” Suddenly Mateo’s expression changed to triumph. “But that means at least I have some basic knowledge of how churches work and what church people say and how they act… you’re driving blind.”

            “Hey I grew up religious! Kinda… well on holidays…” Mateo’s smug expression stayed.

            “You’re out of your depth.” He taunted as he walked back into the store. “And Glenn and I are going to bond as fast as that glue we sell down in electrics.”

            “You know you sound really pathetic using store based similes!” Jonah called after him.

\-------

“Okay.” Amy said. She was sat on the sink of the Ladies’ toilets and was holding her phone in her hand. “Just 30 seconds more.” Cheyenne was in the toilet, having peed on the stick, waiting for the results. This whole thing was messing with Amy’s mind. It was like she was a year and nine months ago.

            “I’m scared.” Cheyenne admitted through the bathroom door. “What if I’m pregnant? What will I do?”

            “Let’s wait to find out before thinking about it.” Amy told her. Poor girl. She knew exactly how she felt. One second you’re a normal teenager, with normal teenager problems, and the next you’ve got a baby inside you. And suddenly everything gets a lot more complicated.

            The buzzer rang out from her hand. “Okay…” Cheyenne said. “Here we go.” Amy drummed her fingers on the side of the sink. She looked up to the ceiling in a silent prayer.

            Cheyenne appear at the door, her face unreadable. She handed the stick to Amy who felt her heart drop a little. “Well… now we know.”

            “Is it weird if I’m feeling a little… happy?” Cheyenne asked.

            Amy smiled at her. “No it’s not weird. If you’re happy about this then… great! It means that some hard decisions might be easier to make.”

            “How do I tell my Mom?”

Amy breathed out a long sigh. “You tell her the truth. She loves you, no matter what and she’ll support you. Just… take a day to think about it. Without anyone else’s opinions.”

            “You don’t regret Emma do you?”

            Amy shook her head. “Of course not. But… do I sometimes wish it had happened later? Sure. Because there are a lot of important things that are usually done at your age. Like going to college and getting a good job. But, you know, you’ve got to go with what feels right. Emma felt right. She was going to be born when I was that age no matter what. It was out of my control almost.” Cheyenne was listening intently. “I don’t want my experience to affect yours though. This is personal, you make the decision. If you don’t want this right now, then there are solutions to that problem.”

            Cheyenne chewed her lip.

“Don’t worry about that now, just… finish your shift and mull it over for a few days. It’s a big decision to make.” Cheyenne looked so innocent at that moment that Amy couldn’t help but pull her into a hug.

            Amy knew what she was feeling. The inner turmoil so intense that you can’t concentrate on anything else. Just baby, baby, baby, rolling around your head. And Cheyenne was young. Younger than Amy had been. Amy rubbed small circles on the small of Cheyenne’s back and felt her let go of some of the tension. Finally Amy pulled away and smiled at her friend.

            “No matter what- you are strong enough to make this decision.” Amy told her.

            “You’re so wise Amy.” Cheyenne whispered. Amy laughed. “Thank you, for being such a good friend.”

            “Any time.” Amy said, patting her on the shoulder. They walked back out into the store together and shared another smile before walking to different departments. Cheyenne needed space to think and Amy was feeling a bit shaky herself. All of this hit far too close to home.

            As she was walking through electronics Amy spotted Jonah sat at a computer. He had an odd expression of extreme concentration, something she had never seen before. “What you looking at?” She said, startling him. He jumped about two feet off his chair and Amy snorted out a laugh. Jonah quickly tried to hide the page he was looking at but Amy caught sight of it before he could close it.

            “Why are you looking up Bible passages?” Amy asked.

            Jonah pulled a face, trying to pretend that this wasn’t completely weird. “I’m religious and I… sometimes I like to look for inspiration in the…” Amy was shooting her most ‘not-buying it’ face and Jonah caved. “Okay, I’m trying to get in with Glenn by pretending to be religious.” Amy barked a laugh that caught the attention of a couple of customers.

            “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” She told him. “Congratulations.”

            “Thank you.” He said doing a little bow. “It’s just Mateo is ruining it. He’s jumping in on my thing and, like, is doing better than me! At my own scheme! How is that fair?” Jonah said. Just then he caught sight of Glenn and Mateo walking together, deep in thoughtful conversation.

            “Maybe you should get Glenn on side by, you know, actually doing your job?” Amy suggested. Jonah just ignored her.

            “He doesn’t even have to look stuff up! Stupid parents not forcing a religion onto me!” Suddenly he was hit by an idea and turned to Amy.

            “Hey! I bet you know a lot about Catholics!” He said excitedly.

            Amy just shot him a look. “And why would you assume that?”

            Jonah looked a little awkward and started mumbling and gesturing and speaking in a very quiet voice before trailing off. “You think just because I’m Latina I know everything about being Catholic?”

            “I didn’t say that!”

            “No, you didn’t say anything!” Amy huffed over-dramatically; secretly enjoying the way she was making him squirm. “But you implied it. Dios Mio you can be so racist sometimes.” She said, making a cross across her body and muttering a Spanish prayer.

            “Aha! You do know stuff!” Jonah shouted. “Please just teach me. Tell me how I can pass as Catholic to impress Glenn!” He pleaded. Amy just laughed.

            “Nah I like to see you so stressed out.” Amy admitted and walked away laughing to herself. You know, she actually felt alright for the first time that day.

\-------

“Good afternoon Ma’am, how may we help you today?”

            “We’re just here for my daughters’ quinceanera dress.”

“How lovely… LINDA GET THE LARGE GIRL DRESSES OUT…. Hey, where are you going?”

\-------

“Now see this is why I don’t try to suck up to bosses.” Garrett said after Jonah told him everything. “It’s just too much hassle. If you’re quiet and do a decent job they’ll like you enough.”

            “Yeah but I want to move up in this company. You know one day maybe manage my own store!” Jonah told him, leaning against the desk. They weren’t supposed to be on a break but were taking what Garrett liked to call a Guerrilla break. This involved still being on the shop floor, but not actually doing any work.

            “Why the hell would you want to do that?” Garrett asked honestly. “You really aspire to be like him?” He gestured towards Glenn who was struggling to attach a mannequin’s hand to the arm. The man was making a meal of it; puffing and panting, getting redder and redder in the face.

            “Well… maybe not like him.”

            “So why suck up?”

            “I don’t know!” Jonah admitted. “Maybe sucking up felt like I was actually doing something worthwhile.”

            “Well that was your first mistake then.” Garret told him. “If you wanted to do something worthwhile then you shouldn’t have taken a job here.”

            Jonah hung his head back and covered his eyes with one hand.

            “Padre nuestro, que estas en el cielo. Santificado sea tu nombre…” Jonah looked outraged as Amy walked past muttering her prayer.

            “Hey, tell me what you’re saying!” Jonah called out. Amy just laughed and walked into the stock room. “God she’s so annoying.”

            “Oh yeah, you definitely find her annoying… that’s what’s going on.” Garrett muttered under his breath.

            “What?”

            “Nothing!”

Jonah didn’t really know what to do. He felt like he may have tried to stretch too far with this one. Why couldn’t Glenn have liked golf? It was easy to pretend to like golf. Literally everyone does that! And then, of course, Glenn was coming up to him. That same smile plastered onto his face.

            “Good news!” Glenn said joyfully, bouncing over. “Dina has allowed us to meet for Prayer once a week!”

            “Great!” Jonah said, keeping up the façade just until Glenn rounded the corner. Then the shoulders slumped again. “I’m gonna have to go to that stupid prayer meeting aren’t I?”

            “Don’t see how you couldn’t.” Garrett admitted.

            “Yeah that’s what I thought…”

\-------

“Dear Customers, the store has now been closed for ten minutes. So if you are still here, you need to go.”

            Finally the last customer left the building and Amy was on her way home. But just as she was about to get into her car, she saw Cheyenne standing by the side of the building. Amy stopped and walked over to her friend. “Hey.” She said sympathetically. “How’re you feeling?”

            Cheyenne looked up and smiled when she saw Amy. “Honestly?” Amy nodded. “I’m feeling kind of… excited.” Amy didn’t know how to react. “I mean,” Cheyenne started to explain. “All my teachers said it wasn’t likely I’d even go to College anyways and I’ve always wanted a little baby so… I’m feeling kind of blessed.”

            Amy leant her back against the wall next to Cheyenne. “I’m glad you feel that way. But don’t worry if you feel any different tomorrow… you know… when it’s had time to sink in.”

            “Oh no it’s sunk.” Cheyenne assured her. “I’m pregnant. I know. And I know it’s not the best timing but maybe… like you said with Emma, maybe it’s this little one’s time.” Amy nodded. Her insides were fighting the urge to lecture Cheyenne about how hard it is to be a Mother. Especially a young Mother without a job and with a steady income from either side. How it all seems nice until your friends are going off and living their lives while you’re the size of a whale, basically stuck to a sofa. And then after all that you have to push a watermelon sized child out of a very not watermelon sized hole.

            But… it wasn’t her place. And Cheyenne had to do this for herself. It wouldn’t be right for Amy to push her one way or the other. Especially as there was no right answer. Just a feeling. And who was Amy to question a feeling?

            “I’m happy if you’re happy.” Amy settled on.

            “I think I’m happy.” Cheyenne said. Amy pulled her into another hug. It had been a very emotional day and all she wanted to do was just go home and sleep and cuddle her baby.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said patting Cheyenne’s back and walking over to her car. God, she wondered if she’d looked so stupid to other people. Maybe everyone had been secretly thinking what Amy was thinking now: how has that girl thrown her life away?

            Amy shook her head. She was being judgemental. And really she had no place to be that way. Lord knows she made bad choices. Not bad choices. Just… different ones to others. Because nothing about having Emma was bad. Nothing. Not even the no sleeping and sore boobs and not having enough time to shower or brush your teeth. So whatever Cheyenne chose to do, that would be what was right. And Cheyenne would love that little baby just as much as Amy loved her Emma.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you've enjoyed this first chapter! Let me know what you think! New chapters coming soon!


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